Menabrea Bionda

Anything Italian seems to attract me like a moth to a flame so this was one I had to try. My previous experience of Italian beers have been Nastro Azzuro, Moretti and one in Sicily that escapes me. Messina perhaps? I tried these first in Italy and I would tend to have them fairly regularly when out for an Italian meal here. I had never spotted this in Italy but that is probably because I wasn't looking at the time!

I noticed that it had a darker colour than either of the before mentioned beers so that appealed to me on some level.  It's quite a sweet beer with an almost grapey taste. It has more body and flavour than N. A. or M. and certainly lingers longer on the palate. It's a well made beer I guess although it seemed to go flat quite quick but that could be just me. (Or my glass.)

The Verdict

It's a nice beer that I would probably choose over any other Italian one in a restaurant (although I still have a soft spot for Nastro Azzuro) but not one I would go out of my way to drink again.

Menabrea Bionda - 33cl - 4.8% alcohol - Italy

Spaten Premium Lager

I had this at the weekend because I fancied a nice lager and, well, that's what I got.

I have to say that I don't think it was anything special but as lagers go it was good. Very refreshing and tasty. Sorry I can't say more.

I think the issue is that my tastes seem to be gravitating towards slightly heavier beers. Ales, stouts and fuller bodied brews seem to be more my thing, apart from wheat beers which still appeal to me..

I don't think there was anything wrong with Spaten Lager and perhaps in the right location and atmosphere it would fit the bill but for now I think I'll stick with what I prefer.

Mind you I still have a few to get through.

The Verdict.

Nice lager I guess but not for me at the moment.

Spaten Premium Lager - 50cl - 5.2% alcohol - Germany

Xingu Black Beer - Have a Brazilian. Go on...

Black beers are always a surprise to me as I never know what to expect from them. Will they be sooty or smokey? Will they be bitter? Will they be smooth or sharp?
More importantly, will I like them?

This did not taste how I expected. It didn't really taste like beer, more like a soft drink. It reminded me of cola with a touch of treacle to give it a syrupy quality. It's lightly carbonated and very smooth so it lacks the throat cutting effect of a soft drink.
I guess it's just a very, very mild beer.

One thing that worried me were the E-numbers E224 and E316 with E405 thrown in for good measure. Now call me old fashioned but do E-numbers really have a place in beer? I have to say i don't get to worried about them in general but there's a place for them and IT'S NOT IN MY BEER!

E405 seems to be giving it the syrupy quality if not the taste and E224 is a bit bizarre as it says:

"Side effects: Due to its oxidising effect, it may reduce the vitamin content in products. It is reduced in the liver to harmless sulphate and excreted in the urine.
People who are intolerant towards natural sulphites should also avoid added sulphites (E221-228). It alleviates the effect of a hangover."

Is this the world's first beer with a built in hangover cure? Wow!

The Verdict.
Even with the E-numbers I kind of liked this. It's an easy drinking laid back kind of beer. Anyway, I need to test my theory....

Xingu - 12fl.oz.! - 4.6% alcohol - Brazil

Whitewater Belfast Lager - Mind out for the Nettles

When I was young, I lived out in the country and one of my favourite times of the year was late spring. All the flora and fauna of the countryside were starting to wake up and make their presence felt in the landscape. I wasn't one for telly then, or homework come to think of it, so I usually wandered through the fields close to our home. I'm not really sure what I was looking for but I didn't find it. 

Perhaps it's just nostalgia kicking in but it seemed then that the sights, scents and sounds had a different quality. Somehow sharper, crisper and more intense.

My real taste of Belfast lager brought all of this flooding back. (I had sampled a little of it at SeptemberFest.)

I have already had the Clotworthy Dobbin from the same brewery, which is one of my favourites, so expectations were very high for their lager. It didn't disappoint.

It was the smell that hooked me in. It had that fresh, clear, fragrance that I didn't think you could bottle. I could get the smell of crushed nettles and the taste of sour sorrel as I took my first sip. Sip? Well a gulp. A full flavoured lager with a nice hint of bitterness.

This is what a lager should be because, well, firstly it has taste, secondly it's really refreshing and thirdly because I said so.

The Verdict.

Another good one from Whitewater. Decent size bottle too!

Whitewater Belfast Lager - 50cl - 4.5% - Northern Ireland

Ayinger Celebrator

Yikes this is sweet!

This is my first Doppelbock and I didn't know what to expect. It was slightly out of date which might explain why it was slightly flat. It was quite smooth but tasted liked, well, treacle I guess. I'm not sure what else to say ................ ah ................ ah ............ it might be nice on a cold night in front of the fire.

Did I mention it tasted like treacle?

The Verdict

Doppelbocks are not for me! An acquired taste no doubt. Feel free.

Ayinger Celebrator - 33cl - 6.7% - Germany

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil - Get Lubricated

I spotted this on the Harviestoun website after I had the Bitter & Twisted from the same brewery. It sounded the business so I decided to give it a shot when I spotted it in my favourite haunt.

This is marketed as a dark beer as distinct from a stout or a porter but to my taste it's a stout. Mind you, descriptions count for nothing sometimes.

The taste reminded me of dark plain 70% chocolate, even down to the balanced bitterness. It has a wonderful smokey flavour, as distinct from burnt. A lovely creamy taste, tiny bit of spiciness and light carbonation are the other appealing characteristics of this beer.

It's a winner in by book (or blog).

The Verdict

This is one of my favourite 'dark beers'. Very tasty, pity the bottle's not a bit bigger....

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil - 33cl - 6% alcohol - Scotland

Whitewater Clotworthy Dobbin

This was one that I was eagerly anticipating for the last few weeks. I tried it at Septemberfest in Dublin on cask and it blew me away. I was in Kilkenny at the weekend and spotted it in The Wine Centre so I grabbed a bottle along with a few other that were new (to me) ones.

As I mentioned before, sometimes your mind plays tricks on you and I wondered was this as good has I had remembered?

It was.

It really is a mouthful and a half. The same wonderful fresh, fruity taste that I remembered from before that almost defies description. You get a beautiful malty flavour with just a hint of bitterness and a lightly burnt taste that still reminded me of confectionery.

Having said all that I still preferred the cask version. It had a smoother more velvet quality that suits my palate better. I felt the bottle was a bit sharper perhaps.

But anyway, it's still bloody good!

The Verdict

A great, great beer. 

Whitewater Clotworthy Dobbin - 50cl - 5% alcohol - Northern Ireland